Welcome to the new look of Airbrush Excellence. If you have been here before, thank you for your return visit. If you are new, please enjoy your stay at Airbrush Excellence.
How I Started Airbrushing
I remember one Christmas when I was little and my mother and father took all the money my grandparents sent my sister and me and spent it on lousy paint supplies. We got an easel, water based paints, brushes, construction paper, and watercolors and well, it's been a long time. I wanted a Nintendo. Needless to say, I was a bit disappointed.
With my new art supplies I managed to learn something. I don't remember or have any art from this time but it sure seemed to stay with me. Through the years I toyed with art. In elementary school a friend, Josh, would draw cartoon characters. I remember a silly drawing that I can still draw today of a Volkswagen bug. It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.
I went to his house and he showed me his How To Draw... whatever books. These books were incredible. Draw a circle here, add an oval here, loop a line like this and voila, Donald Duck. I spent a lot of time at Josh's house and we became great friends. We would draw these Volkswagen bugs at school and sell them for 25 cents. Ah, the good old days.
I must admit Josh was a natural. He would draw scenes of characters that were all made up. I was a bit jealous. The jealousy created a desire in me to continue drawing to one-day make something better than his. It was an innocent jealousy that ended in 1991.
At that time, my family moved to Idaho from Colorado (my home). Idaho was rough. There wasn't any selling of art going on and I didn't know making friends was so hard. It was something I took for granted.
My father had a business in an industrial park. I spent many days at his office doing my schoolwork bored out of my mind. It was like I was stranded every day in this parking lot of garages. Across the parking lot was Commercial Sign & Design owned by Beeb Balzer.
Beeb was the most inspiring person at that time in my life. She was artistic through three-dimensional signs and furniture (her hobby). To get away from the office I would sit in her shop and watch her weed vinyl. I spent so much time excited by the most boring tasks that she let me in on the fun.
I'll never forget the day when I was walking across the parking lot and she had a three foot Styrofoam flower out front of her shop. She came out with this hosed pencil that sprayed paint. I thought I was fascinated with vinyl. Look out! This was amazing. I watched for merely five minutes before she handed me her Badger Crescendo. I wasn't interested in messing up her flower but she insisted.
A few simple directions on how to work the foreign thing and she let me spray some dots. I don't think that more then a week went by before I bought an airbrush. No one told me that it would take years to learn or how terribly difficult it was but, I was determined to learn.
Paint clog after paint clog, dot after dot, line after line, flare after flare, mist after mist, I'd like to remember I couldn't get enough of it. I painted some really silly cars, an Indian and the classic beach scene. Nothing was easy and that sure didn't help.
I spent more time reading books at the store selecting the best instruction than actually painting. I bought a subscription to Airbrush Action magazine and was irritated it didn't come more than 6 times a year. Every other month, when the magazine would arrive, it was like Christmas. Each came with new How To articles to look through and featured art to read. I was still struggling with paint clogs, sputtering and general paint application.
I don't know what I would be interested in today if it weren't for Beeb and her ever trusting out-reach. She doesn't like me to say it but "I owe it all to her." All it took was someone to let me know what airbrushing was and that I could do it. She also introduced me to Airbrush Action magazine.
I worked part time at Commercial Sign & Design and eventually answered the phone. The one time it was non other than Tom. He was an Olympic Snowboarder on the US downhill team. He wanted to know if we painted helmets. Since Beeb only used her airbrush for random jobs, I directed him to an amazing artist in the area, Tony Appelgate. Don't ask me why I remember his name but, he was good.
Tom said he called him already and his prices were too high for what he wanted. He had a helmet that was pink, white and blue. It looked like someone used a spray can to get the blend. It was quite hideous. I told him that I was learning to airbrush, but had never painted a helmet. He wanted a new look for his helmet and was willing to let me paint what I could.
I researched automotive paint by going to the paint store and automotive shops. I had the easiest time getting information from veterans. They were all willing to help. A guy gave me paint to work with and told me to come back when I was done. He offered to spray a clear coat for free. I was ecstatic.
My design was a purple pearl base coat with green goop dripping from the front to the back. I added a candy purple drop shadow to the drips to create an elevated look above the base coat. I had removed the snaps and goggle strap to get the design on there correctly and Tom needed his helmet back in a hurry. I don't know what happened to that strap. It was nowhere to be found. I called everywhere to get a replacement. No one sold such a thing.
Fortunately there was a company in Boise that made straps for backpacks. They were able to make a strap that was better than the original. After solving that mess, I took the helmet to the guy who offered me a free clear coat and he was impressed.
I couldn't wait for Tom to come back and see his helmet. He came in the next morning thoroughly impressed. I transformed his funky helmet into a Dain original. When we spoke about painting his helmet, we didn't really negotiate a price. I wanted him to only pay for the few supplies I had to buy. Allowing me the experience was payment enough. Since the clear coat was free and I got the most of the paint for free, there wasn't much to pay for. Without discussing a price, he whipped out $120 and gave it to me. I should have framed it. That $120 was the first payment I ever received. Granted this is nothing for what a painted helmet should cost but, it was my first and I was thrilled to gain the experience.
Tom and I were working out the details for painting his custom snowboards. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to stay in Idaho. My family moved to back to Colorado to take care of my Grandmother's estate. We were back to my home town for two months. I was happy to be back. Promptly, I got a job at an airbrush clothing store called Bob Cat's Air Wear in the Westminster Mall. The deal was I would work three hours cleaning for one hour instruction.
Bob didn't make me clean for very long. After a few
weeks, he let me paint designs for customers and practice frequently. It was like a dream come true. Life was perfect until the I heard we were moving to the East coast. Moving was becoming a way of life. This time it was long distance.
I moved to Greenville, South Carolina. There isn't much going on in Greenville, especially airbrushing. For the first time in my life, I lived in an apartment. Air compressors and apartment aren't the best combination. With respect to my neighbors, I took up graffiti at a legal site in Spartenburg. I wasn't sure what my parents would think so I would sneak out of town in my mother's car with 12 cans of paint and bombed a few 8 foot designs of art I drew while I was in Colorado. After four bombs and a lot of money later (I don't steal paint), I finally told my parents. Their reaction was much more supportive that I had expected.
What does my family do most? Move! After eight months of fitting in and getting used to life on the East coast, I had the option of Phoenix or Tucson, AZ. I wasn’t thrilled about either so I neglected to choose.
Tucson is different. If you've never been to Arizona, it's totally weird. I heard there was, keyword "was," an airbrush store at the Tucson Mall. I guess they heard I was coming and closed shop. Once again, I was in a town with no airbrush outlet. Oh well, I decided walls would suffice.
While looking for a mural airbrush company, I found Off the Wall Murals. This guy was kind enough to give me a try. There wasn't any need for airbrushing but I did learn to paint faux finishes. We painted the outside of Basil's restaurant (the paint job is still there today). I wasn't able to continue working with him because of my school schedule so, I moved on.
Since Greenville inspired the graffiti artist in me, Beeb inspired airbrushing and Off the Wall Murals created know how, I found a way to keep going. At the time, I played billiards frequently. There was only one place for a minor to play pool in Tucson. Aaron's Family Billiards was my home away from home. Through time, I got to know the owner, Dan. He was a really nice guy who wanted to give kids a fun place to hang out.
Aaron's had these tacky walls. They were so blah I cannot describe them. Dan thought it would be a good idea give the walls some decoration. He chose to create a design on the walls with a roller and squiggly lines. It was the silliest looking pattern I have ever seen. After poking fun at him for a couple weeks, I suggested I should paint the walls for him. No one knew I painted so it was a bit of a shock to him.
His big idea was to add a wall to create a dance room for the clients. It was a fun idea. He asked me to make some designs for the 2,100 sq. ft. wall space. At this time, I was 17 and eager to paint anything. I made some designs and he gave me free reign to roll with it.
The whole design was painted in latex interior paint. I also discovered this paint called Wild Fire that is water based, clear and black light responsive. These paints were the coolest. After the whole design was finished with latex, I repainted all the night details with the Wild Fire paints. I was able to create lights to a train, stars, galaxies, alien civilizations, and crystal orbs that you could only see with the black lights on and the fluorescent lights off.
The outside of the dance floor needed something billiard related. I painted a faux brick wall with a pool table crashing through it. This was my first experience painting wood and brick. Turned out really nice. Some people here still remember me from that. It took three months and tons of hours to finish.
I stopped going to Aaron's when life got crazy with college, work and my broken down car. I couldn't believe it. My 280Z 2+2 with T-tops finally drove that "I'm not going to drive anymore" mile.
Two months without a car living in an apartment and nowhere to paint was really a bummer. After getting a car, I decided it was time to invest in a silent air compressor. Well I’ll tell you! That was the best investment I ever made. Now, I paint in apartments and my neighbors never know. It has allowed me to hone my skills and become more stylized.
My sister had a friend, George, who had big ideas for his new house. He wanted something radical. My sister is a painter too and we worked on it together. We painted a 360-degree beach scene including the ceiling. There was this one wall that wouldn’t incorporate with the rest of the design so my sister painted a wall high replica of a Picasso.
I was so proud of this work and how far I had come with airbrushing that I went to check out Cemrock Natural Environments, an ecologically correct artificial environment company. They were so nice there. Dave gave me a tour of their works in progress. It was beyond my fascination. I couldn’t believe that people spent hours creating realistic trees, coral reef, rock, etc.
I was so thrilled to show him the mural I had just done. He looked at the pictures and told me his honest opinion, of which I am forever grateful. He is the most honest businessman I've ever met. He told me and I quote;
"Your mural is really nice Dain but it is a little sophomoric. We make ecologically correct environments and what you've shown me isn't at the caliber our projects require." |
I must end this with a thank you to my mother for the wonderful art supplies at the age of nine. I am forever grateful to you for art and all the experience it brought me through the years. In addition, she has been the most supportive loving being I've ever known. Thank you.